Apparently, Atlante's 7-1 win over Monterrey in the regular season three weeks ago was a fluke.

Monterrey completed a clinical dismantling of the Mexico City club last night in the semifinals of Mexico's Apertura season, winning 3-1 at Monterrey's Estadio Technologico to advance on a convincing two-leg aggregate of 7-3.

Monterrey will play either UNAM Pumas or Guadalajara's Atlas in the two-leg final next week. Pumas won the first leg of its semi 4-3 but now needs a win or a tie in tonight's second leg at Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara to reach the final.

Monterrey left little doubt about last night's result, getting a pair of goals from Guillermo Franco to take a 2-0 lead. Sergio Perez subbed in for Franco in the 68th minute, and just seconds later Perez had made it 3-0 – it was that kind of night for Monterrey. Atlante got its lone goal from Mario Hernandez in garbage time.

No matter who Monterrey gets, the final matchup will be somewhat of a surprise. The three teams with the best records during the regular season – Veracruz, Toluca and Pachuca – all were eliminated in the first round. Monterrey had the sixth-best record at 8-6-3 and managed to score only two more goals than it allowed; and Pumas barely slipped into the playoffs at 7-8-2.